D&C Section Twenty-five

This is the second of three revelations Joseph received in Harmony in July. He'll receive one more that is in the D&C in August. I think (and this is only my personal feeling) that Emma questioned why she could not see the plates. The plates were often right in front of her in her own home, but covered. She had felt them underneath the cloth and knew their size and had a good idea of their weight. This is a perfectly reasonable request in my mind. But the Lord counsels her not to murmur and tells her she is an elect lady. I think the Lord is protecting her. She had burden enough being the prophet's wife without having the burden of being a witness of the plates also. In the future, she would have more than enough to worry about and deal with without having the responsibility to preach. She won't have responsibilities in a church office until she becomes the first Relief Society President in Nauvoo. The Lord's referring to her as an elect lady may be referring to that future calling or it may simply pointing out that she is elect in the same manner that all women who covenant with the Lord are elect.

The Lord tells Emma that her calling is to be a comfort to her husband, with consoling words and to go with him and be by his side. I don't think the Lord means this in a subservient way at all. The Holy Ghost, a member of the Godhead, is also called a comforter, a being who we can rely on for constant companionship, guidance and support. As a team, as parents, and as the two people all families in the church will look to for an example, this makes sense. Emma is also called to create the church's first hymnal. This is no small matter. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of hymns that were popular at that time. It was different then because people knew the words to all kinds of sacred hymn verses. Whoever led the music would announce the words that would be sung and then the tune the words would be sung to. The words could be applied to a variety of different tunes that were sung in the various churches. So what Emma actually did was select the words of hymns that would be sung. She didn't select the tunes because the tunes were well known and usually chosen at the time the words were sung.

The Lord says that his soul delights in the song of the heart and the song of the righteous is a prayer to him. So many things have been said by the prophets and apostles and other inspired leaders about the power of music in worship. Here's just one example from President Harold B. Lee. "My experience of a lifetime, and particularly in the last thirty-two years as a General Authority, convinces me that the most effective preaching of the gospel is when it is accompanied by beautiful, appropriate music." Some of my most powerful spiritual feelings and experiences have come through music. The sad thing is, today's music often has emotional impact but does not provide the deeper and lasting spiritual experience. It saddens me that most of today's society, and especially the young people, are not familiar with the great music that is available and are missing out on the opportunity to hear and feel what that music can bring into their lives.